QUESTION PERIOD — Health
Decriminalization of Drugs
April 30, 2024
Government leader, last Friday, the NDP government of British Columbia admitted that the drug decriminalization experiment it pursued alongside the Trudeau government has been a terrible mistake. The NDP government in B.C. has requested an urgent change to its exemption that allows the use of hard drugs in public places, such as hospitals, beaches and parks. It is shocking that, instead of quickly granting this request to save lives, the members of the Trudeau cabinet are wasting time by defending their disastrous radical policy.
Leader, why is it taking so long for the Trudeau government to respond? Will it act today?
Thank you for your question.
As all colleagues know, the B.C. government had requested of the government the ability to run a three-year pilot project for the decriminalization of drugs in British Columbia. The project is but one year old. As Minister Saks announced, the government is considering the request of B.C., just as it is considering the request of the City of Toronto for a similar pilot project. It takes its partnership with the provinces on the administration of justice and on health issues — because this is a health issue — very seriously.
The program that British Columbia requested is one that saves lives. The adjustment to that program that the Government of B.C. has asked the government to consider is under consideration.
Yet there are drugs in hospitals, leader, and the nurses and hospital workers are at risk. There are drug dealers. It’s not a safe supply; there’s no such thing. It’s been four days. Premier Eby’s request should have been granted immediately. The Trudeau government is holding on to a failed, deadly experiment that has ruined thousands of lives all across my province.
Is it more important to the Trudeau government to stick with this failed policy than to admit that they were wrong?
The Government of British Columbia, if I understand correctly, did not ask them to stop the project, but simply to make adjustments so that drugs could not be used in public places. It is misleading to those suffering from drug addiction and governments trying to help treat this fundamentally serious health issue to describe it, as is your privilege in the opposition, in such black-and-white and incorrect terms.
